TREASURE HUNTING 101 - Long Read

[theantiquetiger]

Chuck Taylors, huh?

How much would a pair of the 6-color high top form the 80's pull now? I had 3 or 4 pairs of these things in high school. Of course, mine wouldn't be mint like these because I wore the soles out of them.

Going back to our differences on antique shops; I guess I just feel differently because I have never found anything. I am not too crazy about garage sales anymore either, because other than the model rockets from last year, I have never found anything other than bankroll builders and a few medium finds there ($100 or so profit).

BTW, that patched leather jacket is awesome!!!! I would have guessed it would have gone for that much. The boots I would have grabbed, but would never have guessed they would pull $400.
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Hey vintage clothes experts ... what does a wool pendleton skirt from the late 50's go for? And misc. late 60's "house wife" style dresses tend to go for? My mom kept all sorts of her clothes when she was thinner thinking she could wear them when she lost weight ... she still can't wear them and she almost gave them away a few years ago but I told her hang on to them and see if they have value ... I just don't know where to find out the value on this type of stuff, I tried eBay but I don't know what the heck I was looking at

-Russ

I searched "pendleton skirt" on ebay, had 90 hits on closed auctions, but nothing more than $20 or so. When people talk about vintage clothes, they are referring to mostly "flower child" clothes from the 60's and early 70's. It also refers to disco clothes from the late 70's. These two types are the hottest things going. Another style getting very hot right now are the 80's clothes, i.e. parachute pants, Z Cavarechi's, neon clothes, Micheal Jackson's red leather jacket with all those zippers, shirts with chinese symbols all over them. My senior year in high school, I had the greatest job. I was a stock boy for the clothing store "Merry Go Round". This was the home of the hottest 80's clothes and I had a 40% discount. I had the greatest wardrobe of these cheesy clothes. I remember a pair of pants I had. They looked like a normal pair of black pants until I unzipped two long zippers that ran down the outside of the legs from the hip to ankles. Then they puffed out with a blood red parachute material inside. It matched the black shirt with red sleeves and a giant chinese symbol over the chest.

Something that is a very good find are some of the original Michael Jordan's Air Jordan shoes. I have found any, but a friend of mine found six mint in the box. He paid $20 a pair for them and sold for around $300 each.

[RG]

Hey vintage clothes experts ... what does a wool pendleton skirt from the late 50's go for? And misc. late 60's "house wife" style dresses tend to go for? My mom kept all sorts of her clothes when she was thinner thinking she could wear them when she lost weight ... she still can't wear them and she almost gave them away a few years ago but I told her hang on to them and see if they have value ... I just don't know where to find out the value on this type of stuff, I tried eBay but I don't know what the heck I was looking at

-Russ

[toys2cool]

yeah that's what you find most at my thrift shops,vintage clothes dealers,I was able to get a vintage 30's Princeton Letterman jacket for $10 and sell it for about $250

[FullerDawg]

Hey I went to my local thrift store today.Its not Goodwill or Salvation its private owned.I got 5 Boxes of donruss baseball cards.All 5 boxes with 48 unopened packs 1988.Beleive it or not $12 and an old Elvis 33 record his first when he came back from military $1.00 . I check this place every day or two like I said in post above.I always find something Charlies Angels doll $1,Looney Toon Glasses $1 each,6 old Mcdonalds glasses $3 etc. I love that place

[megoat]

Those shoes, for example... they look like Converse Chuck Taylor low-tops to me and they are still making them, so I really don't understand why they sold so high... are they a 1960s or 1970s example?

They are about early 80's. And this is what I mean about "below the radar". To most people these look just like the ones they make now. But to the dude that's shelling out the bucks they are completely different.

Made in the US of A is the first thing to look out for. Chucks have been made in china for at least the last 7 year or so, maybe more.

The logo on the insole has a different look.

and that curved sorta white stitching that make an arch hasn't been done since the 80's. If these had been 60's or 70's they woulda fetched more (the rubber heel patch woulda been black or dark blue).....

[MegoSteve]

How do you determine what clothes are going to sell for "crazy" money like that, and how do you list them on eBay? What keywords do you use?

Those shoes, for example... they look like Converse Chuck Taylor low-tops to me and they are still making them, so I really don't understand why they sold so high... are they a 1960s or 1970s example?

[megoat]

We have a few antique villages/malls around here and I have yet to find anything. I also feel these take the hunt out of treasure hunting. It is like going out and killing a 12 point buck or just ordering venison from some exotic meat dealer, you are still enjoying the rewards, but there was no hunt.

I don't see the difference. It's still a "hunt" when you find something at a flea/antique mall. It's still surprising to find it. Anyway....

As far as thrift stores are concerned they key is to find stuff that flies WAY below the radar. Forget vintage toys, they rarely turn up. But vintage clothes are a great example of stuff to be found at thrifts:

I paid 8 bucks for these:



Sold for $400.

I paid 3 bucks for this:



Again, sold for $400+

How about these?



I just sold 'em for $170....

Records are another goldmine. Key is to know what to look for. Don't expect to find rare Beatles records or anything (as a record hunter I find Beatles records sorta boring anyway), but goofy oddball records are where the big $$$ is. I routinely find $200+ records at thrifts all the time.

I paid 50 cents for this acetate:



I just sold it for $300+. Found it at a thrift. The same sort of thrift that has overpriced "collectible" crap (beat up Rambo lunchboxes for $30 and what not)......They key is to know what you're looking for. School yourself on what sell on ebay.

What I tell people all the time is hunt for what you like. I like records. I like toys. I like vintage clothes. etc etc etc. It's fun looking for stuff that you like....

[RG]

yard sales in my town suck! The town has been growing very fast over the past 10 years so even alot of the older homes are owned by younger people.

I have had a bit of luck with the local goodwill, I found 7 near mint red line Hot Wheels for .50 each I kept them for my collection, but if I were to sell them, they would bring in about $125 to $150 for all 7 of them.

[toys2cool]

yeah I don't buy at the goodwills or salvation army's anymore,the last few times I've been there I've noticed the antique price guides behind the counters,the best money I've made has been with dolls,my mom has collected dolls for over 25 years,so I know my stuff ,I've sold madame Alexanders and Vintage Barbies for well over $500-$800 each,so the 1st thing I do is check the dolls and then move onto the boy toys

[theantiquetiger]

Going back to thrift stores, I did pretty well at these when I first started out. I found some nice stuff to build my bankroll, but nothing in the BIG MONEY range that I am at now. I remember grabbing some transformers, MOTU, and other figs for a dollar a bag, and selling for $30 or $40. I think the best thing I ever found were some records from the 60's. They were some late 50's TV western soundtracks. I think I paid a quarter or so, and sold them for $60.

Here are some the most memorable finds I have had in the past five years, from the beginning first:

I cannot forget my 1st big hit, a 1970's Peirre Cardin backgammon set. It was at a rich neighborhood, paid $2, and sold for $125, buy it now, in about 30 minutes.

A bakelite Mah Jongg set from the 30's or if not older, paid $15 and sold for over $200.

The Daisy BB gun I mentioned earlier. I bought that, a broken "Borden Ice Cream" neon sign from 1930, a Louisville Slugger Joe DiMaggio bat (lying next to the BB gun in the attic), and a Benjamin pellet gun from the 60's. I paid $13 for all, sold for around $600 total, with the BB gun going for $300 and the neon for $125.

My 1st four figure sale. 30 mint in the box Lesney Matchbox cars from the late 50's. I was sweating when I paid $150 for the lot, sold for $2400.

The box of train passes from 1903 to 1930. I think the guy gave it to me because I had already spent $200 - $300. They were nothing business card size pieces of paper with different train companies on them. There were 2 per year. They sold for $700. I made over $2000 from this sale. I found a great old non-pc child's book called "The Pickaninnies". It sold for $100, paid $1 or less. I also found a half dozen mint Roseville pieces for $5 each, sold for $300 or so.

My great Model Rocket purchase from a garage sale last year(my best garage sale find). It was about 100 unbuilt rockets and 1000's of parts and pieces. Paid $200, sold for well over $2000, with some of the rockets going for $200 - $300 each. I also picked up a complete set of Ping Eye II irons for $100, sold for $300, and about 5 rare Beatles albums for $1 each, sold for $50 to $150 each.

The estate sale of the man who worked for LSU. Grabbed a full basket of about 80 comics including the #1 Thun'da that sold for over $600, plus some nice low number Detective Comics and other golden age comics that went for around $100 each. With the comics and LSU stuff, I spent just under $400 and sold for well over $3000.

My most recent find just a couple moths ago. Paid $10 for 6 Kentucky derby glasses from the 50's. Sold for $600. I spent $200 at this estate sale, and sold for $1500.

And finally the grand-daddy of them all, the Mego/SMDM collection I bought at an estate sale. There were about 35 mint loose figs with all the parts (including a minty Green Arrow and a minty Batgirl with her plastic headband still on), playsets and vehicles still in the boxes such as Spidy, CA, & GA cars, Batlab van, Joker Van, Batcave, and some other loose vehicle such as the batcycle. All the SMDM figs and playsets were still in the box as well, including a minty Big Foot. I paid $160 for the lot (their asking price) and sold the SMDM stuff for $700 (including $300 for the Bigfoot) and the Mego lot for $5800. Funny this about this lot, i almost passed on the Spidy, CA, & GA cars because I thought they looked so cheaply made. These three items were the big money getters with the GA car catching $600.

Alot of people have said, yeah, all these are great, but how about the duds I have lost money on. I can honestly say, there has been very few of these. My biggest dud was a collection of about 2500 beer cans that I paid $300 for. I sold the very rare ones off the bat for almost the cost of the cans. After that, I was selling them in lots of about 60 for about $10 - $20 each (thats how many would fit into a box). I was paying $40 a month rent at a storage unit just for these things. After 5 months, I got tired of them, gave the remaining 1500 or so cans to a man at the flea market. Told him it was his turn to listen to his wife b*tch about these things. After 6 mouths, I broke even on these things. I could have made OK money on them, but it was more work than it was worth.

I did have alot of duds when I first started out, paying $1 for stuff and finding out it was crap when I got home, but that was a great learning tool, and the item would never get me again.

I have atleast 200 individual finds that I paid less than $5 that broke the $100 mark.

I have yet to break the $1000 dollar mark on one single item. The Thun'da comic for nearly $700, the train passes for $700 (even though there were about 60 of them), the Kentucky Derby glasses for $600, and the GA car for $600 are my biggest individual item finds.

[MegoSteve]

Wow, what a great post. I love hearing about finds "in the wild," and I admire anyone with the work ethic to put in all that legwork. I just don't have the patience.

My experience up here in Pennsylvania is that most of the yard sales are junk. I used to crawl the neighborhoods looking for sales every Saturday when I was younger, but it just got to the point where I wasn't finding anything for all the effort I was putting in. Whenever I did find something, it was invariably marked way too high because "it's old" or "this is a collector's item." I blame Antiques Roadshow.

I pretty much restrict my buying to flea markets, larger community or church yard sales, toy shows, and eBay these days. I think it's still possible to find bargains at toy shows, especially, because there are many rare variations that aren't well-documented. No one can possibly know everything about everything, even a dealer.

And, ulimately, that's where you make your money. Knowing more than the next guy.

[Marvelmania]

Yard sales and estate sales are the best in my area. Thrift stores, especially Goodwill are the worst with such high mark ups. Last week I found 3 70's looney tunes drinking glasses there. Normally around $5-$7 each but these had barely the picture left from fading. $10 each! We have 3 Goodwills and they are all like this. Haven of Mercy is a pretty good thrift store here. Nice to hear it's better in other areas. Nice reading Chris and thanks for the tips!

[FullerDawg]

Man you guys are PROS Very interesting reading .I've did alot of the same things too.I have a great thrift store near me I check out every day or two.Stuff rolls in and out of there. My trouble is I dont sell much of what I find my wifes about to kill me LOL

[toys2cool]

yeah thrift shops are the thing for me,they have a shopping center down here with like 8 stores,so there's always something good.Your tips are awesome and I will sure keep them in mind when I hit my first estate

thanx man that was very helpful

[theantiquetiger]

pretty good tips but:

a) i can't believe you have to show up so early in your area for estate sales. Thank God around here we only have to show up a half hour early.

b) I regularly find great stuff at antique malls, granted it's not like it was 10 years ago, but I would not say they are a waste of time. Many dealers at antique malls DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY HAVE.....

c) Thrift stores are my bread and butter. I find TONS of stuff there....

The key I have found out is you have to work hard and don't be discouraged. I will hit 15 thrift stores in one day--14 will suck hard and the last one will pay off big time. Same with yard sales. Junky sale after junky sale and then BAM the one that pays off.

Estate sales here are the big thing to go to, and you have to get there 3 or 4 hours early or you are not getting in for atleast an hour after they open.

We have a few antique villages/malls around here and I have yet to find anything. I also feel these take the hunt out of treasure hunting. It is like going out and killing a 12 point buck or just ordering venison from some exotic meat dealer, you are still enjoying the rewards, but there was no hunt.

Like I have told many people in the past, I never started this hobby for the money, I do it for the hunt. The feeling I get when I buy something I have no idea the value, and getting it home to find out I just hit the jackpot.

When I bought the large Mego/Six Million Dollar Man collection a couple years ago, I had no knowledge of the Mego's, I only remembered one friend in the 70's who had a few figures and never played with them, he only brought them to show and tell.

I nearly passed on the collection because it was mark $160, too rich for my blood back then.

I was all excited about the SMDM toys because thats what I played with in the 70's and the guy wouldn't break the collection up, so I risked the money. That is my MAIN rule, you have to be willing to risk the money.